Jack’s Winning Words 12/28/16
“Stop looking at your phone.  Look around you.”  (Pinterest)  I saw a cartoon where a woman says to a man: “Do you mind if I tape your phone to my forehead, so I can pretend that you’re looking at me when we talk?”  BTW, have you heard of, Phubbing?  It relates to snubbing others by looking at your phone while talking.   Michigan has a state slogan: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”  It’s so often true.  “Look around you,” says Pinterest.   ;-)  Jack

FROM TARMART REV:  Stop! Look! Listen! Good for others, besides a precaution at railroad crossings!!====JACK:  I wonder just how many people heed those crossing signs?  Most of us just slow down a bit and give a glance.  I suppose that a busy person like you has an I-Phone.====REV:  Too many railroad fatalities I've called  on as a railroad chaplain with Railroad Chaplains of America to not stop, look and listen myself. Takes a train about a mile under normal speeds to stop and a car is like a pop can in such incidents====JACK:  Do you ever counsel with engineers after they're been involved in fatalities====REV:  Only once as the railroad offers any asked for counseling through their individual companies . . . It was an employee struck by a passing train while he was working behind a railroad car and stepped out from behind it before being struck. Our focus centers on the fatality victim's family.

FROM QUILTING CAROL:  Oh, I so love this!!!!!  This could apply to the other techie devices people use to share pictures, etc.  We had dinner a while back with friends and he couldn’t stop finger flipping through his device to share pictures of his grandchildren with us.  We enjoyed seeing them, BUT we wanted to visit with them too and hear what they were doing.  I love sharing pictures of our family too but not at the expense of a good conversation- face to face!  Bob has tried to instill in our grandchildren that when you shake hands with someone or talk to them be sure to have eye contact with that person.  It is good for both people!  Another pastor friend once shared that when they were in Africa as missionaries the local people would say to you – “I see you” when they greeted you. What a nice thought!  Have a fun day making some new memories!====JACK:  Imagine someone going in for an interview and continuously scrolling the "phone" for messages.  It wouldn't happen if you were really looking for a job.  Imagine someone coming to the pastor for help with a problem, and the pastor would continually be glancing a`t his "phone."  Now, imagine sitting down with a friend for a conversation and the friend keeps looking back and forth at the phone....

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  This invention has been a bane and a blessing.  But, it's easily turned off!  We should all have an electronic turn off day.====JACK:  I'm a fogy.  All I need is a way for someone to call me in case of an emergency.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  Here, here!  So many have become "addicted" to their phone, often to the point of being downright offensive.  And it's not just when they are talking to someone.  I have been in meetings where people are on their phones and have no idea what others are saying.  When you call them on it they just give you a blank look and say "Huh?"   I have gotten to the point where sometimes I don't even take my phone - such as when a play golf - so I can focus on the environment at hand.  Looking forward all the WW's in 2017.  An early Happy New Year to you.  First resolution - no Phubbing====JACK:  Something else that I'm told that I must have...a camera that sees what's behind me when I back up.  I might get that before I get an I-Phone.

FROM GUSTIE MARLYS:  I saw that same cartoon.  Pretty sad commentary on life in the 21st Century I think!====JACK:  It's happened quite often in my presence, but I never say anything, and the conversation seems to carry on.====GM:  So far Keith’s kids do not use their phones at meal time!  Hope they never do!====JACK:  When you were growing up, did your family have any table rules?

FROM BLAZING OAKS:   Just had my whole crew for a couple of days, and both my kids and grandkids were joined at the hip with their phones!  We did get many games in, however, including one hilarious one I gave my great g.daughter Avery, (6) called Pie In The Face...If she lost, and got splattered with the whipped cream, she was happy licking it off her face.:-)  I think my daughter posted my "whipped cream" photo on facebook!  No One was allowed to have phones at meal times...It slays me to see kids out on dates in restaurants, both busy with their thumbs, texting and reading phone messages. But it is what it is, and they are used to it ! :-)  Happy New year, from the dinosaur who only used her phone to talk to people!====JACK:  It used to be that the use of "long distance" was limited because of the cost.  "Hang up!  This long distance, you know."  The cost of texting and sending pictures is not cheap.  But I've yet to hear someone worry about it."  Oh, I take that back.  Someone told me that "grandpa" had discovered how to send pictures.  He was sending so many of them that the cost was adding up.  "It's become a problem!"

  FROM JE IN THE WLSD:  Happy New Year. I agree sometimes our cell phone society can be abhorrent!  Let's look around us this week. Little Christmas is January 6 so there is still time to look and find Him in our lives.====JACK:  Abhorrent, or not, call phones are a way of life.  In my work, I try to lead people how to live life responsibly.